Air India launches new daily flight on Delhi-Paris-Delhi route with Boeing 787 Dreamliner

NEW DELHI: Air India today launched a new daily flight on the Delhi-Paris-Delhi sector with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, after recieving the sixth plane six days ago.

The first flight (AI-143/142) on the Delhi-Paris-Delhi route took off from the IGI airport here this afternoon amid fanfare.

With the steady induction of the sophisticated technology-driven aircraft, Air India has been gradually expanding its long and medium-haul international operations. Currently, the Dreamliners fly from Delhi to Dubai and Frankfurt in addition to some domestic sectors.

The next destination to be served by a Dreamliner is likely to be London next month, airline sources said.

Air India has received six B-787 aircraft so far, with two more expected to be delivered within this financial year, they said. The airline has 27 of these planes on order, each with 18 full-flat business seats and 238 in the economy wing.

The national carrier has begun replacing its Boeing 777s with these more fuel-efficient new planes, which are built of composite material, on its international routes out of Delhi and Mumbai over the past two months.